Senate To Drop Public Option? Reid Announces "Broad Agreement" No Details

Above the post update:

Reid just made a statement.

Senate leaders said they had reached a "broad agreement" late Tuesday on a compromise to replace the government-run insurance plan in the chamber's health-care package, but they declined to release details, pending analysis by congressional budget analysts.

"Tonight we've overcome a real problem that we had," Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters, adding that the Senate was approaching the end of "a long journey."

"Not everyone is going to agree with every piece we sent over" to the Congressional Budget Office, he said. But "is the end in sight? The answer's yes."

There's a lot of confusion about if they are dropping the public option or not (hence the question mark in the headline). Reid says they aren't killing but it looks like depends on what the definition of "public option" is.

In place of a government-run plan, originally designed as a way of forcing competition on private industry, officials said the Democrats had tentatively settled on a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage. Additionally, the tentative deal calls for Medicare to be opened to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government health care program that currently serves the 65-and-over population.

That will drive the Olbermann Left out of their minds. They'll claim it's simply going to enrich insurance companies. Obviously, the details will be what matter.

Original Post...
Wow.

The Senate majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, said Senate leaders “have a broad agreement” on dropping a government-run plan from the health care bill, and that the Congressional Budget Office would review the implications of such a move on the budget.

“I told head of C.B.O. we would send him something he would have to score,” Mr. Reid said. He added that he had asked Senators Charles E. Schumer and Mark Pryor to work together with a group of liberals and moderates on making sure the health care bill has a vehicle to expand coverage to achieve the aims of the so-called public option.

Well, that will kill the idea of the House just passing the Senate version of the bill PA posted on.

Earlier tonight, the Senate killed Ben Nelson abortion prohibition amendment.
Not really a surprise but he sounds like he's hanging tough on this being a make or break issue for him.

Nelson said he will not draft a compromised version on his original amendment: "I had no Plan B, and I'm not looking for a Plan B. Others may be."

But he left the door open for other senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, to find a workable solution. "I always listen to the Leader, if the Leader has something to say. But it's not my intent to go looking to achieve a compromise... If others are trying to develop a Plan B -- you always look at Plan B -- but I can't imagine how it would be satisfactory."

A reporter then simply asked, "Are you a 'no' vote now" on final passage?

"They've made it harder to be supportive," he replied.

I'm still not convinced he won't cave in the end and use whatever weasel language Reid offers up as cover to support the bill. No doubt a few hundred million dollars in aid to Nebraska to help it go down, just ask Mary Landrieu.

Right now though, the whole dropping of the public option (or whatever the hell this is) throws everything into turmoil.

Thanks to Dave in Texas for graciously allowing me to move my post up. Be sure to check out his Medal of Honor v. Home Owner Association post below. I really hate those idiots (the HOAs, not the Medal of Honor recipients).

posted by DrewM. at 09:33 PM

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